A method and system of providing a low battery charge warning in an electronic device that employs a rechargeable power source such as a rechargeable battery. The method and system determine whether a charge state of a battery is sufficient to provide the device with power for a predicted usage. The predicted usage and predicted power requirement may be determined from a usage profile of the device. The predicted usage and power requirement may also be determined from data associated with an event record as may be stored in a calendar application on the device. The method and system may provide an advance notice to the user of the device of a potential low battery situation.
Legal claims defining the scope of protection, as filed with the USPTO.
1. A portable electronic device comprising: a rechargeable power source; a calendar application that stores a record of a future event, the event record having data associated therewith indicating a future usage of the electronic device; and a battery warning system that executes logic to generate a low battery charge warning, the logic including code to: obtain data related to a charge state of the rechargeable power source at a time t n ; determine a predicted usage of the device for a period of time relative to time t n ; determine a predicted power requirement to power the device during the predicted usage; determine a power requirement of the device associated with the event record, and correlate the power requirement associated with the event record with the power requirement determined from the predicted usage of the device relative to time t n ; determine if the charge state of the power source is sufficient to supply the power, down to a threshold level, for the predicted power requirement; and generate a notice if the charge state is not sufficient for the predicted power requirement.
2. The portable electronic device of claim 1 , wherein the notice comprises a charging agenda for the user.
3. The portable electronic device of claim 1 , wherein a predicted usage is determined from a usage profile of the device.
4. The portable electronic device of claim 3 , wherein the usage profile relates to an average usage of the device for a selected 24-hour period.
5. The portable electronic device of claim 1 , wherein the threshold level is a charge state of about 0%.
6. The portable electronic device of claim 1 , wherein the threshold level is configurable by a user.
7. The portable electronic device of claim 1 , comprising a calendar application that stores a record of a future event, the event record having data associated therewith indicating a location of the device during the event, wherein the logic executed by the battery warning system includes code to determine a predicted power requirement of the device based on the predicted usage of the device from time t n through the time associated with the event record and determine if the charge state of the battery is sufficient to provide the power required for the electronic device through the event.
8. The portable electronic device of claim 7 , wherein the location data associated with an event includes data indicating if the device will have access to a charging source.
9. The portable electronic device of claim 1 , comprising a position location application configured to determine a geographic location of the electronic device.
10. The portable electronic device of claim 9 , wherein the position location application associates data with the geographic location of the device indicating the availability of a charging source for the electronic device.
11. The portable electronic device according to claim 10 , wherein the logic of the battery warning system includes code to correlate the predicted power requirement determined from the usage profile with data associated with the determined geographic location.
12. The portable electronic device of claim 1 , wherein the portable electronic device is a mobile phone.
13. A method of generating a notice of a low battery charge for an electronic device having a rechargeable battery, the method comprising: obtaining data associated with an event record stored in a calendar application on the device, the data indicating whether the event is associated with a usage of the device; determining a charge state of the battery at a time t n ; determining a predicted usage of the device for a period of time relative to time t n ; determining a predicted power requirement for the predicted usage, wherein determining the predicted usage of the device comprises correlating the predicted power requirement for the predicted usage with the future usage associated with the event record; determining if the charge state of the battery at time t n is sufficient to supply the power, down to a threshold level, for the predicted power requirement associated with the predicted usage; and issuing a command to generate a notice if the charge state is not sufficient for the predicted power requirement.
14. The method of claim 13 , comprising (i) obtaining data associated with an event record stored in a calendar application on the device, the data associated with the event record including data indicating a location of the device during the event, the location data indicating whether the device will be accessible to a charging source for recharging the battery, (ii) determining a predicted power requirement from time t n through the time associated with event record, and (iii) determining if the remaining charge is sufficient to satisfy the predicted power requirement through the event.
15. The method according to claim 13 , wherein the notice comprises a charging agenda for the user.
16. The method of claim 13 comprising determining the predicted usage of the device from a usage profile.
17. The method of claim 16 , wherein the usage profile comprises the usage profile of the device for a 24-hour period.
Cooperative Patent Classification codes for this invention. Click any code to explore related patents in that topic.
December 12, 2008
January 3, 2012
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